New Muse
by JoanneMalarkey207
Summary: Klaus is an artist in New York who is having trouble getting inspired. His life has been an endless stream of parties, women and fantastic art, but when did it all get so dull? On a day where he is particularly stuck, he heads out of his apartment for a coffee break, but when he ends up in a new part of town, what he finds has him filling his sketchbook, he found his new muse.
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!**

 **So I had this little idea out of nowhere and think it could turn into a big fic but am only testing the waters with it just now to see if you guys like it, so please please please review and tell me if you like it/if you want me to continue it. The continuation depends on you guys so if you like it tell me and ill keep it going, otherwise I'll think its no good and leave it be. I'm quite excited this is only my second fic, up until now I've been focusing all my attention on the one Carenzo/Klaroline I've been doing but I'm really enjoying writing this stuff so am gonna branch out and do more hopefully :) Anyway hope you like it, enjoy!**

Don't you just hate it when you can't get inspired no matter what you do, what used to be a passion was now a total drag? That's how Klaus was feeling at the moment. Staring at a canvas as blank as his expression, he wondered when his life lost the excitement of being a painter. He was currently living in a loft in New York and had been for the past year or so, he had lived his dream since he arrived and filled his life with art and partying, before new York it was new Orleans, before that it was Chicago, he travelled all over the country soaking in the culture and creating his wonderful pieces of art. When did it all get so dull? He felt like every crazy night of drinking was the same as the last and the people he met were all merging into a big blur of unexciting faces. It was his adventurous nature that got him out in the world getting inspired to paint, but nothing was working anymore and he had been at a loss for months.

He needed to get inspired somehow, his loft was silent except from some street noise from outside and the slow Tick... Tick… Tick... of the clock, which matched the pounding rhythm in his temples from his drinking session the night before. Usually the quiet peace of his loft made him paint better and got his creative juices flowing, but here he was just staring at the blank canvas in front of him with absolutely nothing. Not a drop of inspiration was coming his way and his life was dull, missing something. The idea of living his life freely and not knowing where his next pay check was coming from was exciting when he was 21 and poor, but he had built quite a fortune over the years… so what was he doing it for now? For the love of painting I suppose? Well he hadn't been quite so excited about it recently, what was going on? How could he get that passion back?

He needed a new muse, but the truth was he hadn't met anyone who sparked his interest in a long time if ever, he seemed to go from woman to woman finding something wrong with each one, yeah they were all okay but nothing spectacular, no one worth hanging around for, no one inspiring.

Klaus stared and stared, looking from the paintbrush in his hand back to the canvas, he was starting to get annoyed. With his paints, his empty canvas and in life in general maybe, and the pounding in his head didn't help.

Klaus put his paintbrush down on the nearby table with a bang and stood to find his jacket, resigned to the fact that he wasn't getting anything onto a canvas today he thought it'd be a good idea to get out of the house for a while. He decided to go for a coffee somewhere and, I don't know, go for a walk somewhere, maybe he'd find some inspiration in the park. He rolled his eyes at himself, even good old central park seemed dull to him now, but he wasn't going to get anywhere sitting home alone with a headache. Klaus grabbed his keys and wallet, and also a sketchbook to put in his bag, hopefully he'd need it but somehow he doubted it. With one last look at his annoyingly blank canvas, he headed out the door and slammed it behind him.

As Klaus walked down the street he looked all around and he was bored, bored of the streets, the endless crowds of people, how hectic everything was, everyone was rushing around like they had something to be doing and people to see, everyone except him. He wandered aimlessly not taking any care in which direction he was going, he felt aa bit lost in this huge city, looking for something, but he didn't know what.

He wanted a coffee but found himself passing Starbucks after Starbucks, people sitting on their laptops and reading books, this is the kind of thing that bored him half to tears, the kind of place he spent day after day grabbing coffee after coffee. Not today. For some reason Klaus just wasn't up for sitting with pretentious people working away on laptops.

After walking for a good half hour, he took a wrong turn somewhere off 5th avenue and found himself somewhere a little off the beaten track. He stopped and looked at his surroundings and to his surprise found a little café across the street. "Chance in Counter" the name read. He raised an eyebrow at the name, and thought it was strange, but it looked better than Starbucks. He sighed and crossed the road to head inside.

When inside he was pleasantly surprised, the place was quiet and spacious, and homely, with couches and comfy chairs. The walls were covered in quite beautiful artwork he thought, nothing he's seen before so it obviously wasn't by a famous artist. There was something quite authentic and real about this place, which is why he decided to ditch his visit to the park for now and have a sit in instead of coffee to go like usual. Maybe looking at the unusual artwork all around him could get his creative juices flowing, and he'd need his sketchbook after all.

He headed towards the counter, the first thing that caught his eye was a barista with beautiful blonde wavy hair that reflected a ray of sunlight beaming in through the window. Klaus tipped his head to one side to look at her, she was facing the other way so he couldn't see her face, and he waited patiently for her to turn around so he could get a look at her. As he drew closer to the counter to order his coffee she obviously heard him approaching and turned on her heel.

The woman in front of him was absolutely stunning, the most beautiful he'd seen in a long time. Her eyes were dazzling blue, and her blonde hair framed her perfect face, her skin pale with slightly flushed cheeks, and those lips were quite distracting too.

"What can I get you?" she asked in a tone that lacked the sweetness her beautiful face suggested.

"What would you recommend love?" he said raising his eyebrow at her with his signature mischievous half smile.

"It's coffee, not a 5 star restaurant. They do have coffee in England right?" She replied dryly with a no bullshit, I'm not in the mood attitude.

"I'll have a large latte then." He said smugly still grinning, he liked the fact that she wasn't one for chit chat.

"To go?" she said and raised her eyebrow at him.

"Oh no I think I'll stay a while love, how could I resist such excellent customer service." He said sarcastically.

He thought he saw a small smile cross her lips before she turned her back again towards the coffee machine.

"I'll bring it over to your table then, _sir_." She took care to amplify the word "sir" in response to his comment about her customer service and it made him smile.

With a grin from ear to ear, he took one last look at her and turned on his heel to find a lovely spot in the window, he took off his jacket, put his bag down and got comfortable. His mood had improved drastically in the last few minutes. She was fiery and he liked her already, it wasn't often that people spoke to him like that, Klaus just naturally gave off a certain demeanour that said he was not to be messed with, people were always giving him exactly what he wanted and women would jump at the chance to spend a night with the renowned painter Niklaus Michaelson. Lots of people were generally scared of him, he could be quite an intimidating character at times.

But goldilocks wasn't afraid of him. What a totally refreshing change of pace, and here she came.

"Is there anything else I can get you, _sir_?" she said sweetly, Klaus guessed it was her best sarcastic retort of playing little miss perfect people skills.

"You know, I think I preferred it when you were moody… this doesn't suit you." He responded in his deep husky voice with a wolfish grin.

She gave him a small smile and put his latte down on the table.

"Thank you…" he glanced down at her name badge, "Caroline." He added looking back up at her with his half smile that usually drove girls crazy, but his efforts seemed to be going unnoticed as she twirled on her heel and headed back behind the coffee counter, his charms usually made women weak at the knees, but this was no ordinary woman.

Klaus had an idea, he grabbed his bag and got out his sketchbook, it turns out he would need it after all. Contrary to his earlier idea, he didn't look at the paintings on the wall of the café at all that afternoon, he just sketched her.

He sipped on his latte and thought back to the name of the café, it made him chuckle to himself. Chance encounter indeed. If he needed a new muse he had found it, who would have thought it would be in a random café in the middle of nowhere, on an ordinary Sunday afternoon.

 **What do we think, should there be more? Review and tell me what you think :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello Everyone! Like I said I would only continue this fic if people liked it, and I'm so happy about the response it got in a short space of time, so... here is chapter 2! I'd really like it if you would continue to show your support and tell me what you think, this is only my second ever fic and I'm not so sure about it, but as long as you guys like it then I'll keep going! A note about the comments, one said that Caroline seemed like a bit of a bitch towards klaus, it wouldn't be klaroline if she didn't give him the cold shoulder a little! But you did make a good point and so this chapter is more from Caroline's point of view and we really get to know what's going on in her life to help understand why she's trying not to show any interest in klaus. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think so far, love you all!**

"Hey Caroline, that guys back again." Elena said quietly pointing to Klaus with her eyes from behind the coffee counter. "He's cute… you should go over there and flirt a little bit." She said with an eyebrow wiggle.

Caroline rolled her eyes at her friend, "Maybe you're forgetting about a certain man called Tyler, you know… my boyfriend." She replied.

"Flirting doesn't hurt anyone, plus Tyler isn't a handsome British man." She replied.

"Neither is Damon, why don't you go over there and flirt with him if you think he's so cute." Caroline said sarcastically.

"Because me and Damon are happy." Elena replied in a more serious tone as she looked worriedly at Caroline.

Caroline had been with Tyler since she moved to New York, he was one of the first people she'd met, they didn't hit it off at first, but that was just because Caroline wasn't in a good place she was pushing everyone out, She had come to New York to get away after her parents died and wasn't interested in a relationship. After months of back and forth the two eventually got together, it was great at first but it seemed that she couldn't remember the last time they weren't fighting about something or another now, this was the cause of Caroline being in a bad mood more often than she was in a good one nowadays, she felt like her life was going nowhere, she had come here for a fresh start and had accomplished nothing other than get a job as a barista and a pain in the ass boyfriend. She loved Tyler very much don't get me wrong, she just felt like they had little in common any more and he was always working at this big fancy law firm, she never seen him any more and when she did they ended up bickering.

"We're just going through a rough patch." Caroline said quietly staring down at a coffee cup.

"Rough patches don't last a whole year Caroline, you deserve better." Elena said, treading carefully.

"We'll be fine Elena, he's just working really hard trying to make partner right now and he's stressed."

"…and you think when he makes partner the work will stop? Come on Caroline, you're not the kinda girl who goes for the corporate guy, it's not who you are." Elena said to her friend, their conversation was a bit deep for a Monday afternoon at work.

"He takes care of me, he's done more for me than anyone ever has Elena it's not that simple." Caroline's voice was small, defending Tyler was something she found herself doing a lot.

"So what? You feel like you owe him? If you're not happy then you're wasting your time and his. You're 25 you should be out seeing the world not working in this place day after day and going home to argue with your boyfriend. That's not living." Elena said caringly, this wasn't the first time she had tried to convince Caroline she deserved more.

"Yeah well… let's not get into this right now, we've got work to do." Caroline said pointing with her eyes to the busying coffee shop.

"I'm just looking out for you, why don't we try and get out of here early and we can go to my house and drink wine, have a night off from all the drama, a girl's night, just us two?" Elena said putting her hands on Caroline's shoulders and smiling lovingly.

"Okay, that sounds fun actually." Caroline smiled "…and I know you're just looking out for me, it's just… hard, you know."

"I know. Now let's get back to work or Alaric will kill us." Elena laughed turning to serve the waiting customers, one of whom was Klaus.

He stood in line looking over at Caroline and Elena chatting away, he wondered idly what they were chatting about, Caroline didn't look too happy. Her name had been running through his head since yesterday, Caroline. What a beautiful name. She had had a profound effect on him and his paintbrushes. His creative juices had been flowing all night, be barely got any sleep, his sketchbook filled with what he could remember of her face, and now that he was back looking at her, she was just as beautiful as he remembered, if not more so. He watched as they chatted, wondering who was going to serve him his coffee, turn round Caroline, come on turn round.

Damn. It's the brunette. She's attractive too, not as much of an angel as Caroline though.

"I'll have a double espresso, please." He said mildly.

"Sure. Double Espresso Caroline." She said over her shoulder to her friend.

"Got it." Caroline said without turning her attention back as she set to work on the coffee machine.

"You were in yesterday weren't you?" Elena said, deciding to stir things up and get some dirt.

"Yes. It's recently become my favourite place." Klaus said in his low sexy voice, looking over the brunettes shoulder to Caroline, who presently had her back to him.

"Is that right?" Elena grinned to herself. "Any particular reason why?" she smirked.

Klaus lingered on Caroline who hadn't yet looked at him although she knew he was right there, she could hear his voice over her shoulder.

"The Artwork." He said plainly directing his attention back to Elena.

"Artwork?" she said slightly confused but seemingly amused.

Caroline brought over his espresso and placed it on the counter, looking up at him briefly before heading back to work.

"Yes, it's quite beautiful." He grinned, looking over at the blonde.

"Artwork, right." Elena knew exactly what he thought was beautiful, she smiled to herself. "Your double espresso…"

"Klaus." He grinned his half smile.

"Nice to meet you. Enjoy your coffee." Elena smiled.

Klaus walked away to a far corner of the coffee shop where he proceeded to repeat his antics from yesterday and get his sketchbook out.

Elena looked over her shoulder to Caroline and caught her attention, Elena raised her eyebrows suggestively knowing Caroline had been listening to Klaus talk to her.

Caroline rolled her eyes in response but smiled to herself when her back was turned.

The coffee shop getting quieter and the two girls had a moment to themselves again, the lunchtime coffee rush was over and the place was peaceful once more, but Klaus hadn't left, he was still sitting on a couch with one leg crossed on top of the other, his sketchpad on his lap and he was drawing away like he had been yesterday, he had a small smile on his face as he did so.

Caroline leaned over the counter and rested her chin on her fist, she allowed herself to glance over at this man she now knew to be names Klaus. What an unusual name she thought to herself. Elena is absolutely convinced that the reason he came back was to see her, she's sure he can't keep his eyes off her but Caroline's never seen him looking. All that stuff he was saying about the artwork being beautiful, Elena's convinced he was talking about her, she can be so silly sometimes, how absurd. Caroline allowed herself to look at him, really look at him. She examined his face, she had been in such a bad mood yesterday after her fight with Tyler that morning she hadn't even given it much thought, and he was kinda cute, really handsome actually, now she thought about it.

"Snap out of it! You have a boyfriend… you have a boyfriend." Caroline whispered to herself under her breath.

She stood up from the counter and continued to keep herself busy and keep her eyes off of Klaus for as long as she could. Then to her surprise, she turned round to see Tyler standing at the other side of the counter.

"Hey…" she said quietly, moving to make her way around the counter to see him.

"Hey Care, don't bother coming round, I can't stay." He said nice enough.

"Oh… where you rushing off to?" she said sweetly.

"Finished work early and a few of the guys from work are going out for a drink, I'm just heading there now, thought I'd jump in and let you know. Can I get a latte actually, feeling pretty tired." He said hands in his pockets to get his wallet.

"Oh… um sure…" she moved to make it.

"I got it." Elena said blankly from behind her as she looked at Tyler unimpressed and made him his latte.

"Well, I've got a day off tomorrow... so I thought maybe we could spend the day together, go for lunch or…"

"Can't." Tyler interrupted. "Got a big meeting tomorrow, can't miss it." Tyler said apologetically but he didn't seem to be very upset about it.

"Oh, okay. I'm having a drink with Elena tonight but it won't be a late one, I should be home when you get in." she replied quietly.

"Here's your latte." Elena put it down on the counter with a thud and walked away.

"Thanks." Tyler said taking a sip and throwing a note down on the counter. "Don't wait up." He said and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then he was gone.

Caroline let out a deep breath and looked over at the door as he left, she was rather pissed off actually.

"You know, sometimes I feel like he doesn't even know he's being a dick." Elena said over Caroline's shoulder.

"I don't even have the energy to defend him right now. What time is it? Can we get drunk yet?" Caroline sighed turning to face Elena.

"As a matter of fact, Alaric just told me we're free to go." Elena beamed.

Caroline laughed at her friend's total cheeriness and gleefully untied her apron and threw it at Elena's face before heading towards the back of the shop, leaving Elena giggling in response. She walked happily through the "Staff Only" door to go to the staff room and get changed.

Klaus still sat in his spot looking down at his sketchbook. He wondered who the man was that had been talking to Caroline, he seemed like a bit of a dick to him personally, but maybe that was just because he kissed her on the cheek, maybe her boyfriend? That would explain her giving him the cold shoulder. Caroline didn't look very happy amidst their conversation, if it was her boyfriend he must be an idiot, making her unhappy like that. If he had the chance, he would do everything humanly possible to make her smile. Suddenly he found himself getting a bit pissed off at this guy he didn't even know.

Caroline emerged from the back door wearing her everyday clothes, she looked even more stunning out of her uniform, even in her skinny jeans and chuck taylors. Klaus was absolutely mesmerised by her. He watched her as she strode onto the shop floor, looking sexy as hell. She seemed a lot happier now, and that made Klaus happy.

Elena decided to change at home since that's where they were going.

"Okay!" Caroline beamed. "Let's go get drunk!"

He laughed to himself when he overheard her, and got up to leave.

Caroline stood leaning over the counter waiting for Elena to finish what she was doing so they could come and get drunk.

Elena turned her attention to Klaus as she saw him heading for the door.

"Leaving so soon?" she said playfully.

"Not going to get any coffee if my two favourite baristas are leaving now will I?" he said with a grin directed at Caroline.

Caroline turned her attention to him and decided a little playful bander wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Our dearest apologies but we can't wait on you hand and foot all night, we've quite important things to be doing." She said sarcastically.

"Like getting drunk?" Klaus said playfully giving her that half smile.

She and Elena giggled and couldn't conjure a response.

"Have a lovely evening, Caroline." He said in his low voice looking at her in appreciation, then he turned and headed out of the shop with a smile on his face.

Back in the shop Caroline found herself looking out of the door after him like an idiot. She gave herself a shake and turned back to her friend.

"So… how about that wine?" Elena said.

And with that they shouted the Alaric that they were leaving and walked out of the shop arm in arm to the nearest shop to buy cheap wine.

Klaus walked home with a smile on his face, she didn't seem as pissed off today, except when that idiot came in and left in a hurry, he idly wondered what was going on there, if it was a boyfriend, she could do better, he seemed to be a bit preoccupied, didn't even pay attention to her at all, and he was wearing a suit, didn't peg her to be the type to date a guy in a suit.

He arrived at the door of his loft and walked inside, he smiled at the canvas that was making him angry yesterday, it now was home to an unfinished painting of her, and the likeness was good considering it was from memory. He walked over and picked up his paintbrush, and set to work on it, all the while he couldn't get that guy out of his head, he may be a problem.

Little did Klaus know that at the exact same time not far away from him in a small apartment, Caroline and Elena were discussing the very same man he couldn't get out of his mind, and they were well into their first bottle of wine.

Caroline took a sip of her second glass of wine as she relaxed on Elena's couch, she threw her head back on the back on the couch and sighed.

"God I needed this." She said.

"See, girl's night. We should really do this more." Elena said falling down onto the other end of the couch and putting her feet up, starting on her second glass also.

"You know. I'm actually glad he's gone out with the guys, I needed a drama free night of drinking." Caroline admitted.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Elena asked.

"There's not much to say, were just going through a rough patch right now, it'll pass. It was so good in the beginning, there's no reason we can't get back to it being like that is there?" Caroline sighed.

"I don't know, Damon and I haven't been through a rough patch yet, and it's been 3 years, I mean we fight but it never lasts longer than 10 minutes, don't you think if it's the right person then it would be different?" Elena said quietly.

"I don't know, I've never had a relationship as long as this, I just don't think the answer is to give up you know? He's been there for me when I was in a bad place, gave me a place to stay and has been by my side, I know we fight but I know he loves me." Caroline said honestly.

"Is it love or just comfortable?" Elena asked an honest question, not something she thought Caroline would want to hear.

"What do you mean?" Caroline said confused.

"Well I mean, you met him when you moved here and for the most part you've been together ever since, he's all you know. Do you think maybe it's just easier to stay with him rather than the scary alternative of trying to figure things out on your own?" Elena inquired, right in the deep end, this conversation was a bit deep for girl's night, but she had seen her friend had been unhappy for a while and it seemed like she was stuck in a rut, she was only looking out for her friend.

"I know what you mean, but it's not that easy, I do love him. We just need to sort our shit out, we'll get through it." Caroline said hopefully.

"I hope so." Elena smiled.

"Okay, okay, let's change the subject, girl's night is supposed to be fun!" Caroline laughed.

"Girls night?" the girls heard a man's voice bellowing from the other end of the room. It was Damon. "Am I interrupting?" he said sarcastically as he walked over to the couch and kissed Elena on the forehead.

"Yes you are. Now go away." Elena giggled.

He held up his hands in defeat.

"Okay, okay, I was going to go see Stefan anyway." He said playfully. He bend over and gave Elena a quick kiss on the lips and it made her smile like a 12 year old. He stood up and straightened his jacket and headed for the door.

"Hey Caroline, when are you gonna dump that jerk boyfriend of yours so I can set you up with my brother, he's totally got a thing for you." He said playfully.

"Shut up!" Caroline laughed as he made his way to leave.

"I'll give him a kiss for you." He said sarcastically.

Caroline dipped her head in embarrassment and laughed, she heard Damon making kissing noises and she picked up a pillow and threw it at him, she missed by an inch, but he just laughed and headed out telling them to have fun. Caroline had met Stefan once when she just met Elena, she hadn't got with Tyler at the time, well not officially anyway, and she had to admit he was cute and they got along, but she soon was with Tyler and had to put Stefan in a pile with all the other guys she thought were cute but couldn't go there, she was now taken after all.

"You two make me sick." Caroline giggled, but deep down was totally jealous of their cheesy intimacy, they really did love each other, Caroline had never seen a cuter couple.

"Shut up." Elena replied and threw a pillow at her almost making her spill her wine.

"Watch out!" Caroline laughed in reply, this was the most fun she'd had in a while.

"So are we gonna talk about that amazingly handsome British guy before this turns into a full blown pillow fight?" Elena grinned, trying to dig for some dirt, again.

"What's to talk about?" Caroline smiled in fake confusion.

"Well there is the fact that he only comes in to see YOU." Elena told her.

"Don't be ridiculous. He comes in for coffee and some peace and quiet." She lied.

"I've seen him looking at you, he couldn't keep his eyes off you today." Elena beamed.

"Elena, you're crazy." Caroline said blankly, taking a sip of her wine.

"And the way he sits and concentrates while he draws in the sketchbook, super-hot." Elena said looking up at the celling in a day dreamy manner.

"I'd like to see what it is he's drawing." Caroline confessed.

"An artist. That's the kinda guy you should be with, someone fun who you can spend your days in random coffee shops with." Elena looked back at Caroline.

Caroline couldn't think of anything to say she just looked at Elena like she was mad.

"All kidding aside, I know you love Tyler, but what you're doing right now isn't living. Even if you want to work it out with him, get out there and do something with your life. I beg of you. I mean you've been in New York for years, have you even seen central park?" Elena said all serious now.

"I'll tell you what, tomorrow, on my day off, I'll go and sit in central park, all day."

"It's a start." Elena sighed. "Maybe you'll run into Mr. Artist sketching some trees." Elena laughed.

"What is it with you and this guy?" Caroline rolled her eyes and giggled.

"I don't know, I think it's sweet that he comes to the shop just to see you, he's obviously obsessed with you, and well… he's crazy hot. You cannot deny that."

"There is a certain, something about him." Caroline confessed. The truth was she hadn't stopped thinking about him all evening. The more she talked about Tyler, the more she felt like she was just trying to convince herself to make it work because it seemed like the right thing to do. The truth was Caroline let too much slide with him, like the way he acted in the coffee shop earlier wasn't good boyfriend behaviour, but here she was defending him like she always did.

Caroline stayed at Elena's that night, truth be told she couldn't be bothered going home to Tyler, they would both be drunk and that's when they fought the most, it was usually when he came in drunk, he had a bit of an anger issue, she couldn't count the amount of times he punched walls and kicked things in the midst of their fights, and now that she was drunk aswell, it would just be double trouble. She found herself thinking, surely it's not healthy to avoid going home because you know without a shadow of a doubt that you're going to have a fight with the person you're supposed to love.

She slept on Elena's couch and tried not to think on it too much, instead she concentrated on what she was going to do tomorrow, get out and see the city, properly. Have a day to herself to get her head on straight and then go home and have a good long talk with Tyler and see if they could sort everything out. As her mind wandered and she drifted off to sleep, she unknowingly found herself thinking about him again, and secretly hoping that she would bump into him like Elena said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! so sorry its been a while i've been wanting to do a chapter for ages but i've had crazy uni assignments and 2 jobs so this is the first time i've had the time :) anyway hope you enjoy it, i've decided this is going to be quite a long** **fic so if your enjoying it awesome :D but will have to be patient with me over the next week while i finish uni, hopefully when the christmas break starts i'll have lots more time to get caught up with these :) as always please comment and tell me what you think I love to hear from you guys :)**

Caroline woke up on a couch to the smell of burnt toast and coffee. She was a tad confused for a second at her unfamiliar surroundings, but she soon realised she'd spent the night in Elena's flat. She had a slight headache from all the wine, but nothing a little caffeine wouldn't cure, she hadn't been that drunk after all. Looking up at the clock in Elena's living room she seen it was half past 9, she had a slight panic thinking she was going to be late for work, but it was short lived when she remembered, today was her day off.

Heading into the kitchen, she found Elena and Damon with their arms round each other laughing playfully.

"Morning." Caroline spoke up making her presence known before they did anything she didn't want to see.

"Oh, hey Caroline." Damon said slightly embarrassed, loosening his grip on Elena.

"Morning sleepy head." Elena teased.

"Hey! It's only 9:30. This is early considering the amount of wine I drank last night." Caroline said moving into the kitchen and perching sleepily on a barstool.

"It's 9:30? Crap I've gotta head to work, stay and have some coffee." Elena said with a mouthful of toast, throwing her jacket over her shoulders and walking towards Caroline.

"You okay today?" She asked putting her hand on Caroline's shoulder.

"Yeah much better, wine helps everything." Caroline laughed.

"I'm gonna relax today then have a talk with Tyler tonight, thanks for last night, I haven't had that much fun in ages." She said sincerely.

"Any time, now if you'll excuse me I can't be late for work again or Alaric will kill me. He's got a date this afternoon apparently and he made it very clear that I have to be in early." Elena rolled her eyes. "See you tonight." She smiled turning to Damon, then with a bang of the front door closing, she was gone.

Caroline got up and poured herself some coffee, she had known Damon for as long as she'd known Elena so the two of them were close as well. So she didn't feel weird at all hanging around for a while and having a cup of coffee.

Maybe Damon could offer some insight on the whole Tyler situation, perhaps a guy's perspective could help.

"Aren't you working today?" Caroline asked Damon.

"Nah, think the bar can survive without me for a day, Stefan's there taking care of things." Damon said emphasising the word Stefan.

"Would you give it a rest with the Stefan thing already?" Caroline laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied playfully.

She smirked at him, he knew fine well what he was doing.

"Okay, okay..." he held his hands up. "I know you're spoken for. What's going on with you and Tyler anyway?" He asked casually, however being the perfect couple he and Elena were, they told each other everything, he knew they were having problems, and as a friend he wanted to help, but he would play dumb as to not to overstep the mark. Caroline thought for a moment about playing dumb herself and telling him everything was great like she usually did, but they were good friends and she thought his opinion on everything couldn't hurt.

"I don't know. It's all a bit complicated, Elena seems to think he's a total dick, as I'm sure you know." She sighed.

"Well maybe he is." He said frankly.

"Wow, thanks for the support." She said sarcastically with a hint of humour.

"What you know me well enough to know I'm not gonna sugar coat it, the fact that we're having this conversation means somethings up. If you're not happy you need to talk to him, and I'm telling you that as your friend, not because I wanna set you up with my brother." He joked to take the edge off, this conversation was a little much over the first coffee of the day. Caroline sighed and drank her coffee, Damon was straight to the point and slightly abrupt but he had a point, the fact that they were talking about it means something wasn't right.

"I'll talk to him later. Everything will be fine." Caroline said optimistically, because that was who she was, someone who was totally hopeful and seen the best in everyone.

"Well make sure you let him know if he's a dick to you i'll be having a word with him." damon threatened with a hint of humour.

"Yeah thats perfect, i'll threaten him to be a better boyfriend, that'll work." Caroline rolled her eyes at him.

"So… what're you doing with your day off?" damon changed topic.

"I dunno, Elena has ordered me to have a me day, when all i want to do is go home and clean my apartment." Caroline laughed.

"No! She's right, no miss organised today, go out and have some fun before your break up." Damon teased.

"We are not breaking up!" caroline punched him in the arm.

"Ouch! Okay, okay." Damon laughed and held his arm where she punched him.

Caroline finished what was left of her coffee and got up to find her things, she'd have to go home and change into fresh clothes, then she would have a day to herself. grabbing her jacket off the back of the couch she turned to the kitchen and said goodbye to damon.

"I'm going home to change, then I'm having a pamper day." she declared.

"Okay, don't forget to stop by the cafe on your travels, never know who you'll bump into." Damon teased lightheartedly.

Caroline whipped her head round to look at him eyes wide.

"Elena told you about him!?" she boomed at him.

Damon didn't say anything back he just smiled and gave her a little eyebrow wiggle.

"I'm so not getting into this with you, i'm leaving, goodbye." she rolled her eyes at him and turned to leave.

xxx

Back at her huge empty apartment caroline wandered into her bedroom, the had never felt more lonely, Tyler was at work like he always was and the house was quiet. She quickly made her way to her closet to get changed and decided on a white sundress and her knee high brown riding boots with a brown leather jacket, and sunglasses of course, it was turning out to be a beautiful day. She quickly got everything she needed and put it in her bag, she wanted to get out and enjoy her day before her talk with tyler tonight. She looked around her beautiful apartment, what was the point in material things like a huge house and nice car if she wasn't happy. She decided to banish the negative thoughts from her head and decided to think about it later, for now she was going to get out and see the city.

Caroline headed out and slammed the door behind her, she walked down the street at a leisurely pace, what was she going to do with her day, she wanted to pamper herself, so the first thing she did was call her hair stylist and see if she could book an emergency appointment.

xxx

a few hours later, caroline was totally content, she had got some fresh highlights and her hair was extra bouncy, she had also got a manicure and done some shopping, she treated herself to a beautiful dress, a long dark red formal dress, where she would wear it she didn't know yet, but she couldn't walk by it, maybe her and Tyler could go out for a nice dinner tonight and talk things through. With a little more bounce in her step, caroline walked down the street shopping bags in hand and thoughts of her relationship troubles left her head, she was actually happy for a minute.

checking her watch she seen that it was almost three o'clock, looking around she realised she was pretty near the coffee shop, maybe she would jump in for a quick coffee to go and get the gossip about Alaric's date. Then she remembered what Damon said about bumping into a certain someone, maybe he would he there. She made her way towards the cafe, and convinced herself it was because she needed caffeine, but the idea of seeing him did fill her with a little bit of a thrill, but not that she would admit out loud. She arrived at the coffee shop and headed inside, she caught Elena's eye and was greeted with a smile, the shop was quite quiet as she expected so she wouldn't be distracting her from working. She took a quick glance around, he wasn't there. Caroline felt a shred of disappointment rush through her, why was she disappointed?

"Caroline!" elena said excitedly, this was no normal greeting, she had something to say.

"Hey, whats up?" Caroline said quietly.

"So… Alaric's mystery date, the date that he's been so cagey about when we ask him, you'll never guess who it was with." Elena looked at caroline bursting with information she needed to get out.

"Who?" Caroline laughed.

"Jenna!" Elena said with a glimmer of confusion in her voice.

"What!? as in your aunt Jenna?" caroline giggled.

"Yes Caroline. My. Aunt. Jenna." Elena said saying each word separately.

"Wow, they make a cute couple actually, good for him." Caroline teased Elena.

"No! not a cute couple, my aunt and my boss? this isn't going to end well." Elena said still half in shock but slightly amused.

Elena started making Caroline a coffee already knowing what she would want, and distracting herself from the idea of her aunt dating her boss.

"So how's the place been today, are you managing without me?" Caroline changed the subject.

"Yeah I'm managing." Elena said turning her head round from the coffee machine to look at her. "it's been quite quiet today actually." She passed a Caramel frap to Caroline who took a sip.

"Oh…" Elena raised her eyebrows at caroline, "There was this one customer who was in earlier." Elena smiled.

"He was here?" Caroline replied quietly in shock. Why did that make her happy.

"Yeah, he didn't stay though, got his coffee to go today. Think it was because you weren't here." Elena said playfully.

"Give it a rest." Caroline demanded with a hint of humour.

"I'm just saying, thats three days in a row." Elena shrugged.

"Ever thought that he just likes coffee." Caroline quizzed her.

"I think he just likes you." Elena retorted.

"I'm leaving." Caroline laughed, twirling on her heel and leaving Elena to get back to work. "I'll call you tonight." She looked back at Elena before making her way to the door of the cafe.

Caroline had been to distracted looking back to meet Elena's smile she wasn't looking where she was going.

Then bang.

Caroline bumped into someone with a thud and dropped her coffee all over the sidewalk, it lay beside her bags and their scattered contents, she looked up at the stranger to apologise or shout at them or something, and low and behold, there he was.

klaus had been down the street at his brother Elijah's apartment, literally a stones throw away from the cafe, and when they were in need of a caffeine boost and klaus drew the short straw, he knew exactly where to go on the off chance that he would bump into her, he didn't think he literally would. Klaus stepped back with his hands slightly toughing her upper arms, giving her a quick once over making sure she was alright. His heart was pounding slightly at having their bodies pressed up against each other if only for a second.

He took a proper look at her. Wow. It had felt like years since he's seen her, maybe it just felt that way because he couldn't stop thinking about her, she looked absolutely stunning today, there was something different. Her hair was extra bouncy and she looked positively radiant. This was the first time he had seen her in a dress, it flattered her curves and klaus had to close his mouth after he realised his mouth was literally hanging open when he looked at her. He was quite amused by their little encounter but judging by the look on her face she wasn't quite as amused.

Of course little did klaus know that caroline heart was racing, perhaps partially due to the fact that she just almost had a heart attack when she was caught by surprise, but although she would't show it, she knew there was a small part of her that was happy to see him there in front of her, he looked lost for words, and to be totally honest so was she. Caroline didn't want to be horrible to him, it was just an accident, but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea either. So instead she turned her attention to the scattered contents of her bag on the ground.

"Shoot." She muttered moving towards the ground to pick everything up, Klaus followed her.

"Let me." Klaus replied sweetly, helping her grab her things.

The pair were eye to eye kneeling on the ground gathering Caroline's scattered belongings and the purchases from her day of shopping. Klaus looked up at her at the same moment she looked up towards him.

"Your in a good mood today, I was expecting a lecture." Klaus smiled to break the tension.

"Well if your going to insist on bumping into me everywhere I may as well be nice to you. Also, a day in the salon helps." she giggled.

Klaus's attention darted quickly back to the ground as he speedily grabbed caroline's brand new dress that was about to be destroyed by a flowing river of coffee.

"Oh my god, thank you!" Caroline gasped, her beautiful new dress almost ruined, she held it up to check that it was still unstained by her puddle of Frappuccino.

Klaus picked up the rest of her bags and joined her on her feet.

"It's a beautiful dress." he complimented her as she stood with it in front of her giving it a once over, she turned her attention up to Klaus.

"I think I might just drop dead if i seen you in it though, your beautiful enough with an apron on." he tilted his head down with a shy smile. What the hell was he doing, he wasn't sweet, women came to him not the other way around, he had never chased after a girl before, and most certainly didn't get shy.

Caroline's feelings were totally conflicting as she looked at him, on the one hand she didn't want to give him the wrong idea but on the other hand she couldn't remember for the life of her the last time she reviewed a compliment, and she just stood there with her mouth open about to say something but couldn't think of anything legible. Klaus handed her shopping bags to her and looked up at her.

"I've gotta get going." Caroline said in an attempt to escape his compliments and dreamy blue eyes.

"Wait…" klaus said holding his hand. "Let me buy you another coffee, it's only fair considering yours is on the pavement." he smirked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"Okay." she gave him a small smile as she swivelled on her heel and headed back inside.

Caroline immediately shot Elena a look that said "don't even go there!" when she met elena's gaze and she looked amused.

Klaus approached the counter and ordered the coffees, one for him, one for his brother who he had almost forgotten about at this point, and most importantly, Caroline's. Elena had a huge smile on her face at the position caroline was now in five minutes after their conversation about him, and klaus was smiling at elena knowingly. It was like the two of them were sharing some sort of inside joke knowing the humour of the situation, like they were both rooting for the pair to get together.

The two walked towards the exit of the shop hearing elena calling after them saying bye, and the two walked down the street together.

"So where are you off to now? more shopping?" Klaus made casual chit chat as the two walked down the street together, trying to figure out a way to ask caroline if the guy from yesterday was her boyfriend.

"No i'm probably just gonna head home and make dinner for tyler." Caroline slipped his name into conversation to get it out in the open that she was spoken for.

"The guy from yesterday?" Klaus asked casually.

"Yeah." caroline sighed taking a sip of her coffee.

"You don't sound very happy about that." He smirked looking sideways at her.

"You don't even know me." she scoffed back with a slight smile.

"No…" he said simply with a pause, "But i'd like to." he added innocently.

The two came to a crossing in the road where they would have to go in separate directions and caroline turned to face him.

"Friends then?"

 **Leave a wee comment and let me know what you think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy New Year all!**

 **This is an updated version added a few little bits at the end. Apologies to all that have already read this chapter, couple of changes have been made.**

 **So I haven't updated since last year (haha see what I did there), but it has been a while, my new years resolution is so finish my fanfics and start new ones so whey! should be updating more often and if i don't feel free to message me and tell me to hurry up and ill get to writing :) As always i love your feedback so please comment good or bad, or even to tell me what you'd like to see happen next, all comments welcome, still kinda new to this so they help more than you know! anyways, hope you enjoy!**

Caroline walked through the front door of her and her boyfriends luxury apartment. She looked to her right and seen tyler's jacket thrown across the table right next to the coat stand and his bag dumped on the floor, she sighed and hung it up with his bag out of the way. He was obviously home, not surprising given that it was now after 6 o'clock, Caroline had done some more shopping to distract herself from klaus and also to procrastinate from going home, it did take her mind off everything though, shopping usually works wonders.

What a strange day it had been, Caroline was feeling pampered and relaxed and slightly amused at how she had bumped into Klaus and they had decided to be friends, she felt slightly guilty at the fact that they had exchanged numbers and she now had him saved to her phone, she had all her friends numbers so it was no different from that. Yes. Only for friend purposes, and at least now she had a reason for him to be in her life without him interfering with her relationship with Tyler and everything was straightened out and everyone knew who was spoken for and who wasn't, although she thought to herself that she didn't even know if he had a girlfriend, the idea made Caroline uncomfortable. She ignored it, he seemed like a really interesting guy and she too wanted to get to know him, she didn't have many male friends.

Caroline walked forward into the house and looked around, she found Tyler to her right sitting at the dining room table with his laptop open in front of him and a bunch of papers all over the table. She rolled her eyes inwardly and let out a sigh, same as usual, always working.

Caroline decided to try and get his head out of the laptop and headed towards him. As she reached him she dragged her hand across his shoulders as she walked round to sit next to him.

"Hey." Caroline said sweetly sitting diagonally across the corner of the table.

"Hey babe." Tyler replied, but didn't avert his eyes from the screen of his laptop.

"How was your day?" Caroline asked, perching her chin on her hand.

"Busy. Got a ton of work to do for tomorrow." He replied stretching back in his seat and eventually looking at Caroline.

"Can't you take a little break from all this work for a minute, I feel like I hardly see you any more." Carline said sweetly and reached across the table to grab his hand.

"I can't. I've worked so hard to make partner, can't stop now I'm so close." He said sympathetically, but seconds later took his hand back from Caroline and had his head back in his work.

"I understand that but.." Caroline tried to reason before being cut off.

"Sorry Care, I really am, but I can't let up." Tyler said distantly.

"Not even for an hour or two? I thought we could go out for dinner tonight? I thought we could talk." Caroline reasoned with him.

"Can we just order in tonight, I've got too much to do." Tyler replied, still not taking a second to look up at her.

Caroline stood up and walked away from him towards their room to put her clothes she had bought away. She looked at her phone and seen a text from Elena, it was a long text describing how weird it was when Alaric brought Jenna back to the coffee shop and elena was mortified, the text ended with a question, "How's the talk going?".

Caroline wrote a text back to Elena, "Non-existent, he won't look up from his computer.", she hit send and sighed. Caroline grabbed her shopping bags and made her way to the closet to hang them up, she pulled out the red dress she was planning on wearing to dinner tonight and practically threw it on to the clothing rail, slightly pissed off that she wouldn't get to wear it. Maybe if Tyler got fhrigen partner there would be a party she could wear it to. Caroline went back out into the bedroom and jumped on the bed with a poof, she picked up her phone to see a reply from Elena.

"Turn off the Wi-Fi - he might look up then LOL." Elena had replied.

Caroline laughed to herself, she wasn't wrong.

"Good idea. lol." She replied. "What are your plans tonight?" She hit send again.

A few seconds later she had replied.

"Sorry, you're not getting out of your talk that easily. Me and damon are going to the movies.".

Caroline put her phone down on the bed, lucky Elena, she couldn't even get tyler to look at her never mind take her to a movie. Caroline picked her phone back up bored and started scrolling through the contacts, then she saw his name sitting there.

For a second she thought about texting him and asking what his plans were, they were friends now after all, anything beats sitting bored while Tyler has his head buried in his laptop. She clicked his name and clicked send message, staring at the screen she wondered what she could say. Caroline threw her phone down on the bed and corrected herself before she sent anything, 'no." she thought, she was going downstairs to talk to Tyler wether he liked it or not, and with that she jumped up out of bed and marched downstairs.

Sitting down where she did before now with a much more determined look on her face, she was slightly pissed off with him, she usually shrugged off his work ethic, decided it was a good thing for him to be so driven and let it be, but not now, not to the point where she was so lonely she was considering texting another guy to go to dinner with. She said she was going to sort this out and she was, Caroline wasn't a quitter, they could work it out.

"Tyler, we need to talk." Caroline said more forcefully this time.

"Caroline, can we do this later I'm kinda busy." He replied nonchalantly

"No!" She said loudly.

Tyler looked up at the volume of her voice, looking slightly shocked slightly worried.

"We can't talk later, because this never stops." Caroline gestured to the work all over the table. "You never stop working and I don't feel like I even have a boyfriend anymore." Caroline said matter of factly.

"Caroline you know how busy work is, and with trying to make partner I've gotta give this all I've got. You know that, I'm doing this for us, for our future." He said defensively.

He's defending himself she thought, this is how all their fights started, with him defending his working hours and caroline eventually caving because his work was important for their future, but she'd had enough.

"I don't want it." Caroline blurted out. Tyler closed his laptop and looked really worried now.

"Care.." Tyler was at a loss.

"Not like this." Caroline interrupted him.

"I fell in love with a guy three years ago and he's gone, replaced by this workaholic, power driven guy, who only cares about work. I don't care if you make partner, I would rather have no money and be with you, than have all the money in the world and be a ghost in this house. I cant even remember the last time we went out for a meal or even sat in front of the TV watching crap movies. I'm not asking for the world here Tyler, but it would be nice if you'd acknowledge my existence." Caroline said loudly, her voice starting to crack with her anger. She was standing up now looking over at him from a few feet away.

"Caroline i don't have the time to be going out for dinner every night, I spend most nights at the office. You know that." he retorted

"And drinks with the guys the other night? Don't tell me you don't have time to do anything but you can go out and get drunk with your friends, the only time i see you is when you come in for a coffee before you go to work." Caroline argued.

"It's not my fault Caroline, I'm working my ass off over here for our future and I don't have time to stop, this would be a big promotion, it would mean big things for me at work." Tyler defended himself.

"Again, work, work, work." Caroline said walking across the dining room.

"Yeah Caroline, Work! It's important, I'm sorry I can't take you out every night but this is a priority right now." Tyler shouted.

"It's not just a priority now, it's been your number one priority for almost a year now. I'm not asking you to take me out _every night_ Tyler! Just once, every now and then, would be great. So i know that you still know i exist." Caroline bellowed back at him.

"Well I'm sorry Caroline that i can't shower you with all the attention you want, but I have a real job, with real responsibilities and I can't just relax while everyone else surpasses me!"

"Wow." Caroline said shocked and at the same time not surprised by his remark, she was just surprised he said it out loud. Then caroline was silent for a minute and did't know quite what to say, then she realised, she didn't have to feel like this anymore.

"You know what, you're right Tyler, you have a real job. You're gonna be a big fancy lawyer with piles of cash, and me? I serve people coffee for pennies in a crappy cafe. We are clearly worlds apart, and it just keeps becoming more clear. I don't want to feel bad for doing what I do, I enjoy it, and I'm not gonna live in your shadow. So I'm out." Caroline declared, her voice hoarse as she tried to keep her tears at bay, caroline took a deep breath and marched past Tyler and headed towards their bedroom to get her bag so she could leave.

"Caroline what are you doing?" Tyler called after her following her towards the bedroom.

"I'm leaving, I'll crash with Elena, I'm not gonna be invisible anymore Tyler." Caroline spoke without looking at Tyler, moving around the bedroom grabbing her things, purse, keys, phone… where was that god damn phone…

"Caroline, Stop!" Tyler's voice came from behind her as she got some clothes for an overnight bag.

"I'm not happy anymore!" Caroline shouted with tears in her eyes as she turned to look at him. She could see from Tyler's face he was worried, he knew he was going to lose her if he didn't say something to stop her. Caroline put her hans on her head as tyler took a step towards her.

"Look, I know we've had a rough patch but you don't need to leave, you don't have to leave, we can work it out." He said apologetically with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I'm sick of trying to work it out Tyler, you don't talk to me." Caroline responded.

"I know i've been preoccupied, I've just been trying to do well in work, if we just get through a little bit longer this will all be over." Tyler pleaded.

Caroline didn't say anything, she stood looking at him, weighing her options, trying to figure out if he really meant it or if he was just freaking out because she was about to leave, maybe he really didn't realise how distant he'd been, maybe he was just trying to work hard for the both of them.

"Look, those guys I went out with the other night were guys from work I had to show my face to some big bosses that night, I know i don't make enough time for you but this won't last forever care." Tyler said stepping a few steps more toward Caroline and grabbing her hands. "We just have to make partner, then all this will be worth it."

"We?" caroline asked. "There is no 'we' in this, you will make partner and i'll be a waitress in a coffee shop like i've always been, you know I moved here for a fresh start and all i've done is get a crappy job as a barista and mooched off you for 3 years." Caroline put her hand on her head and tried stepping back but Tyler obviously worried she wasn't interested grabbed her hands and tried to reassure her.

"Look, I wan't to take care of you, Partner is gonna be announced next week and then all this will be over, all the madness and crazy ours will be over and we can work this out. Get back to the way we used to be Caroline. I know we haven't spent as much time together as we used to, but we will, trust me." Tyler said sweetly, putting his hand on Caroline's upper arm and rubbing it with his thumb, looking right into her eyes reassuringly, finally.

"That's all I wanted." Caroline said quietly. "This isn't going to be easy, a a lot has to change, but I don't want to give up on this." She warned.

Tyler stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He pulled away and looked her over at arms length to make sure she wasn't showing any signs of running out the door, but she had calmed down, all she wanted was him to take some responsibility for their relationship troubles, it seemed he didn't even know he could do wrong up to this point, but just hearing his admission of not making time for her made her feel like there was hope.

"Let's go out tonight." Tyler smiled putting his thumb on caroline cheek.

"Really? don't you have work to do?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'll do it later." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm not letting you go Caroline Forbes, I mean it."

"Well now that you mention it, theres this art exhibit tonight at a gallery downtown, it looks kinda fun, Elena gave me a Flyer." Caroline smiled.

"Really? an art exhibit?" Tyler raised his eyebrow. "Didn't think that was your thing." he said with a hint of humour in his voice.

Little did he know Caroline loved art, and had always wanted to go to art galleries and things but he was never interested, now was her chance to go, anything she wanted he said.

"Yes. An art exhibit. its at 8 o'clock" Caroline replied.

Tyler looked at his watch, 7:05pm "Fine. Better get ready quickly then if you wanna make it." He replied, Caroline knew it wasn't really his idea of fun but he could at least fake a bit of excitement.

"Okay, but wear a suit. It's a nice place." Caroline said over her shoulder as she made her way into the closet, she could practically feel him rolling his eyes but she ignored him as she set eyes on her new dress, beaming with excitement she pulled it off the hanger, she would get to wear it after all.

Caroline was ready to go, it was 7:30, she had gotten ready pretty quickly considering. She wore the dress with a pair of nude heels and a small clutch, and she felt like a princess. Excited, Caroline made her way to the top of the stairs, checking she had everything she needed she made her way down to look for Tyler and see his reaction to her new dress. Tyler had his laptop on the table by the door and was typing away when caroline emerged, the thought of going out with so much work to do obviously pained him and given their big fight he still couldn't tear himself away from the laptop, but he was in a suit and they were going out, which was better than nothing Caroline thought. She cleared her throat as she reached the bottom of the stairs and approached him. Tyler closed his laptop and looked up at her.

"Ready to go?" He asked sweetly.

"um… yeah let me just grab my keys." Caroline replied. He didn't notice at all. She walked to the kitchen to pick up her keys.

"Lets go." She said, and with that they made their way out of the door and down to the garage.

"Why don't we take my car." Tyler asked as the elevator arrived at the below ground car park.

"Because you've had two beers." Caroline reminded him as they walked towards her car. She couldn't help but think that he didn't want to be seen in her car, Caroline's car wasn't as fancy as his, Tyler drove a jeep and She drove a second hand ford which she had bought with her own money and loved. He didn't love it so much, said it wasn't safe to drive, but that was just because he wanted to buy her a fancy one like his but she wouldn't let him. Despite Tyler assuring her he was fine, Caroline drove the two of them to the gallery.

She was glad to notice that the pair were appropriately dressed as everyone around them were dressed up in elegant dresses and suits, it was a very sophisticated place. Tyler got a glass of champaign and Caroline a glass of water since she was driving home and the two started exploring the room looking at the exquisite artwork, it wasn't long before Tyler went to find the food. Little did she know that a certain familiar face was oblivious to her arrival at the other side of the huge room.

Klaus stood next to some art enthusiast as he made his rounds of the room speaking to potential customers, it was his artwork all over the walls after all, but he couldn't be more bored. He normally loved this thing, everyone admiring his brilliant work and being complimented for an entire night from people who would go on to buy his paintings for huge amounts of money which went straight into klaus's pocket. But he didn't feel that the buyers were getting a fair look at his best work, as his true masterpiece was at home still unfinished on a once annoyingly dull and empty canvas.

Klaus tried to wrap it up with the person he was talking to so he could move on and get tonight over with, this was the only part of his job that actually felt like work, although since he had become famous for his paintings in the art community it felt less like he was receiving genuine praise as it felt like he was being admired by men and women alike for his fame and fortune, and that felt a little false to him, unlike back in the day when he was struggling and any praise was well deserved, whereas nowadays he was brought out like a prize show pony for meet and greets.

Klaus had finally finished his conversation with the most boring man in the world when he looked around the room to decide where to go next, he caught a glimpse of red. People walking around blocked his view as he tried to see what had caught his eye, he seen a glimpse of golden blonde hair, it couldn't be could it? was he just hallucinating her at this point because he'd been thinking about her so much. He moved to manoeuvre through the crowds of people to get a proper look, and eventually he had a clear view, it was her. Klaus's heart practically stopped, she was wearing the dress. The dress he'd earlier said he would probably have a heart attack if he seen her in it, he wasn't wrong. She looked absolutely stunning, and Klaus realised his mouth had gone dry. Shit. What the hell was this woman's power over him. He straightened his tux and moved towards her, she was on her own, how did she know about the exhibit? does she know it's mine or is this just pure chance? why is she on her own? who did she come with? a million questions flooded Klaus's head before he had got within ten feet of her.

"Twice in one day? Aren't I lucky." Klaus said to the back of caroline's head while she stood and admired a painting he'd done of the New York skyline.

The hairs on the back of Caroline's neck stood up at the sound of his smooth deep voice coming from behind her and she whipped her head around to confirm that he was actually here. She was surprised, this didn't seem like his sort of thing, he was so laid back and didn't seem the kinda guy to be at Gallery exhibits, and so her words reflected exactly what she was thinking.

"Didn't peg you for a person to spend their nights at art exhibits." Caroline said with a raised eyebrow.

"Nor did I you, so i guess we were both wrong." Klaus smiled.

"I guess so." Caroline replied with a small smile.

"You look stunning by the way." He said seriously. "My earlier suspicions proving to be correct." He added nervously.

Klaus was extremely nervous, if it wasn't showing he would be extremely surprised, he was finding it difficult to string two words together in front of her in that dress, she was angelic.

"So is this something you do a lot then, come to galleries alone?" Klaus asked innocently.

"I'm not alone, boyfriend has gone to find the buffet." She gestured in the general direction of the room. "I don't do it as much as i'd like to to tell the truth… And you, do you often wonder art galleries alone?" Carline asked. A tiny part of her wanted to know if he was here with a girlfriend.

"Quite often actually." Klaus smiled. Obviously for work, but he wanted her honest opinion of the artwork, she obviously didn't know it was his.

"So what do you think?" Caroline asked him to keep the conversation going trying not to get lost in his eyes.

"It's Okay I suppose." He said playfully knowing what she didn't. "And you?" He raised an eyebrow. Caroline turned her attention back towards the piece she had been looking at. It was a painting of a girl, a blonde haired girl, with her back to them, surrounded by trees and flowers wearing a white dress, the sky was blue and beautiful and she looked outwards into the landscape, you couldn't see her face in the painting but she liked it all the same.

"I like this one." she said continuing to look up at it. She glanced round at Klaus who was staring up at the painting as well. Little did she know that she was the inspiration for it and that it was one of the artist's newest pieces.

"She looks so carefree and… happy." she continued. "It's beautiful." She smiled.

Klaus smiled but continued to look up at the painting and was deeply happy that she liked it. He was also extremely happy that she enjoyed art, many girls Klaus spent time with were only with him for the same and stature, and didn't appreciate his work, but she did.

"Well i'm sure the artist would appreciate that compliment." Klaus smiled at her innocently.

Just then Klaus's publicist approached him, "The gentleman over there has just bought the piece on the far wall…" She gestured towards a man standing at the other side of the room. "He would like to pay his compliments to the artist when you have a minute Mr. Mikaelson." She smiled.

"Thanks Hayley, I'll go over in a minute or two if he doesn't mind waiting." Klaus smiled at Caroline who was looking back and fourth between the two of them piecing this new information together looking a little gobsmacked. Klaus took a sip of his champaign and looked back towards the painting while Hayley marched away.

"You're the artist?" Caroline asked in shock.

"Oh… well yes technically." He grinned at her knowing he was in trouble.

"What the hell!" she laughed giving him a slap on his arm. "You let me talk about how much I love your painting, just feeding your ego." she laughed as Klaus smiled smugly back at her.

"Well I take it all back, your painting sucks." Caroline said matter of factly however couldn't hide the amusement in her voice. looking back at the painting she realised, or hoped that his inspiration for it may not be very far away.

"So what was your inspiration for this piece that I love so much?" Caroline quizzed him.

"Oh this… It's a rather new muse of mine…" he glanced down at her innocently "…It's working out quite well." he added.

"I'll bet, anyone would be crazy not to buy this, it is without a doubt my favourite one." She gave a genuine compliment and genuine smile as she looked up at him.

Klaus's face dropped slightly, although he still smiled a hint of a more serious expression crossed his face while he looked down at her, hearing her compliments meant more than she knew, it was the only compliment he had heard all night that had hit home and he felt was genuine.

"Thank-you, love." He replied with his shy half smile. He looked up at her from his head that had dropped towards the ground slightly, he lifted his glass and Caroline lifted her water and they had a cheers.

"Have a lovely night Caroline," Klaus almost whispered as he gave her one last look, tried to hide his shy smile, put his hand in his pocket and turned in the direction of the gentleman who had just put half a million in his pocket.

Caroline looked over her shoulder as he walked away in the opposite direction, it was then she spotted Tyler approaching her, only now realising he had been gone all this time, he had left her standing there for a good 20 minutes.

"Wanna go get dinner? I'm starving." Tyler asked.

She felt reluctant to leave as she hadn't seen most of the paintings in the room, but she was in no mood now to start anything.

"Sure. Let's go."

The pair stood outside waiting for the valet to bring the car around. He's a freaking artist, Shit. Looking round at her tipsy boyfriend she realised she couldn't stop thinking about Klaus's reaction to her all dressed up and how Tyler barely noticed. Caroline heart was still racing from their encounter and she wished she had a glass of wine. Reaching in her bag she rummaged looking for the flyer Elena had given her. She scanned the piece of paper for a name, surely she would have seen his name when she looked at it before, then right at the bottom she noticed a name. Niklaus Mikaelson. Damn it Elena.

Klaus stood inside after having watched her leave with him, he wanted to come up with some reason for her to stay but couldn't have without sounding desperate and having to deal with her boyfriend. Klaus didn't like him. He didn't know if it was because he had her and he was jealous or if it was because she never looked happy when she was with him, it seemed from every time he had seen them together that he didn't appreciate her, what was he thinking leaving her standing on her own like that for ages, if klaus had her beside him he wouldn't leave her side. He could feel himself getting pissed off and tried not to think about it, but his conversation with the gentleman who had just bought his painting was extremely dull and boring his mind couldn't help but wonder. He couldn't get the image of her in that dress out of his head, she was breathtaking. Klaus's eyes wandered back to the far wall and fixed on the painting she loved. Then he decided he didn't want it hanging in the living room of some stranger who wouldn't appreciate it.

"Would you excuse me a minute." Klaus said politely to the man he was speaking to as he started to make his way across the room.

Klaus reached for her painting and lifted it off the wall, heading towards the back he decided that anything that made her smile the way she did wasn't going to be sold, it belonged to Caroline.

 **Soooooo? what do we think? leave a commentand tell me :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! So sorry for the lack up updates I've just been so busy with university, final year and all, so much work. The other day I was watching tvd and realised I'd totally abandoned my lovely fanfics and set to work on a new chapter! so here it is, chapter 5. Hope you all enjoy it and as always feel free to message me with any questions or to tell me who you'd love to see more of in the fic. Also please leave me a wee comment, they keep me going, makes me feel like what I'm actually doing on here isn't going unnoticed or else why would I even bother. Anyways, so sorry for the wait, hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think, love you all!**

Caroline felt the breeze on her face as she walked to work, tyler had already left the house when her alarm woke her. She had to give him credit where it was due, it was amazing he even managed to get up for work so early given how much he ended up drinking the night before, why he felt the need to drink so much she didn't know, but she ended up spending the night quietly apologising to their waiter for his behaviour before helping him in to the car and getting him home. It was a beautiful morning and even given the circumstances of last night it was still the most fun she'd had in ages, and she thought about how much she loved the gallery, she made a mental note to interrogate Elena when she arrived at work for giving her the flyer, she's such a meddler. In the light of the new day Caroline was feeling better than yesterday, poor Tyler must be out of his mind with stress, maybe thats why he drank so much she thought. Just 6 more days until someone got a promotion in work and then this would all be over, and for her sake she hoped it was Tyler, she didn't know how she would even begin to deal with him if he didn't get it, he would be even worse than he was now. On the other hand maybe without the job on the horizon he may ease off with all the work, only time would tell and she would just have to wait until next week. However bleak Caroline was in such a good mood today for some reason, she thought about last night and how she wished she could have stayed at the gallery a little longer, then she thought about texting Klaus and then she could get a look at the rest of the artwork, and he would probably have more things that weren't in the on show that she could look at. He really is talented she thought to herself, she'd have to keep an eye out for more gallery showings so she could go and see more.

Caroline had always wanted to give painting a go but never had the courage, she wasn't bad when she was in school but that seemed like a million years ago now, and she wouldn't even know where to begin. What would Tyler say if she took up painting? hopefully something encouraging now that they had turned a new leaf and all. The idea of him being supportive seemed unlikely as the thought crossed her mind but she disregarded it immediately and wasn't going to let anything spoil her good mood today, the sun was shining and she was getting away early from work, maybe her and elena could go out and do something fun while Tyler was glued to his office desk all night. Caroline's daydreaming had made her walk to work seem a lot shorter than usual, she was here.

She took off her sunglasses and strode through the door, scanning the cafe for Elena, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead she seen Alaric talking to a girl, she had dark skin and hair with bright green eyes, and she had an apron in her hand, huh. Caroline wandered over to see what was going on.

"Caroline, there you are." Alaric said as he looked round and spotted Caroline approaching. Caroline was now standing next to him and the new girl. "Bonnie, this is Caroline, Caroline this is Bonnie, she's gonna be working here." he said as he stood in between the two girls and introduced them to one another.

"Hey." Caroline said with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Hi, same here, was afraid i'd be all alone on my first day." she laughed.

"I'm not the best guy to have as a boss but i wouldn't do that to you on your first day…" Alaric grinned before clapping his hands together. "Okay… um, Caroline… Show bonnie the ropes and maybe show her how to do some coffee's before we open i'll be in my office if you need anything."

"Is Elena coming in today?" Caroline asked as Alaric headed into the back.

"Uh… no, she asked for the weekend off a while back, her and Damon are off to her family's lake house." He informed her.

"Oh yeah, i totally forgot about that." Caroline said quietly, she was very jealous.

"…So i thought it'd be a perfect time for Bonnie to start, she came in for an interview last week, She's really nice. If it gets busy I'll come out and help, okay?."

"Okay." Caroline smiled.

Turning on her heel back to Bonnie, she gave her a smile. "Okay, lets go get changed." and Bonnie followed her into the back.

"So are you new to the city?" Caroline asked Bonnie as she handed her a name badge.

"Yeah i just moved here a few weeks ago, new start." She smiled back.

"Yeah i know that feeling, me and elena… she works here too… we moved here a few years ago and never looked back. you'll like it working here its pretty laid back and Alaric is great. A bit unorganised at times but he's a good boss." She laughed.

"Yeah it seems a cool place to work, so glad i found this job so quickly or else i wouldn't make my first months rent." Bonnie laughed.

"So did you come here on your own?" Caroline quizzed.

"Yeah just me. Felt like i needed the space to clear my head, although there doesn't seem to be much space for anything in Manhattan, it's definitely a culture shock." Bonnie raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Oh yeah, believe me I know the feeling, i got used to it pretty quickly though, you'll be surprised." Smiled Caroline. "Okay, so we don't open for another 45 minutes so why don't you head out and I'll be right behind you, just gonna give Elena a call and check in." She explained reaching for her phone.

"Okay." Bonnie smiled as she headed through the staff room door.

Pressing on Elena's name in her contact list Caroline held he phone to her ear, listening to it ring she awaited a reply.

"Caroline!" Elena answered in a chirpy tone.

"Don't Caroline me! you've got some explaining to do." Caroline hollered down the phone in a half serious, half trying not to laugh manner.

"Gee Care how about 'Hey Elena hows your weekend?'" Elena laughed.

"Don't play dumb, I went to the art exhibit." Caroline announced.

"Oh! how was it? tell me everything. Was he there?" Elena quizzed her.

"It was fantastic, but that's besides the point. Yes he was there, you could have told me I was totally dumbfounded. He's gotta be insanely rich too by the way, every piece was worth like at lease 10 years rent." Caroline vented.

"Wow. I'm sorry, I should have said something, but I knew you wouldn't have gone, and anyway, who cares if he was the artist I knew it's the kinda thing you'd love to go to. So I decided to keep my mouth shut on this one." Elena said lovingly.

Caroline sighed in defeat.

"Well you were right, I did love it, but Tyler dragged me out of there before I could have a proper look around, it wasn't his thing." Caroline replied with a hint of annoyance.

"That reminds me how was your talk with Tyler?" Elena's tone slightly more serious now, a bit concerned to be honest.

"More like fight. It's all a blur now, there was one point where i was about to pack my bags, i think he got the fright of his life to be honest, but after that we talked it out and he actually admitted he'd been in the wrong, he seemed genuinely sorry, I think it took the sight of me about to walk out on him for him to realise what he'd be losing if I left. I think things are looking up. Then he took me to the Gallery… where as you know we saw Klaus."

"Well at least you guys were out, I'm happy if you're happy, and I'm sorry there will be no more meddling on my part from here on out, I promise." Elena smiled through the phone.

Caroline lingered and wasn't sure wether to tell Elena the whole story, since she would probably read way too much into it.

"I have his number." Caroline confessed with one hand over her eyes.

"Klaus's number!?"

"Yeah…"

"When did that happen!?" Elena's excitement booming through the earpiece.

"Remember when he bought me another coffee just after I left work, well we walked together and ended up talking for a little while, and we decided that if were gonna continue to bump into each other we're gonna be friends." Caroline confirmed.

"Well if you say so, do you like stay up late texting each other with loads of emoji's and talk about how your gonna be besties?" Elena giggled.

"Shut up. I'm changing the subject now. How is your weekend by the way?" Caroline desperately turning the conversation away from Klaus.

"It's good, relaxing, quiet compared to the city, i feel like i cant sleep now without the sound of traffic outside my window." Elena replied in a relaxed voice.

"Yeah that sounds about right. Oh… Alaric has replaced you by the way." Caroline Joked.

"What?" Elena laughed.

"We have a new girl, Bonnie. She seems really nice actually. Which reminds me I've gotta get to work show her the ropes a bit before we open. Maybe I'll take her out and get her drunk tonight since that was what i was planning to do with you, but you had to be hundreds of miles away having a romantic weekend." Caroline smiled.

"Okay go work, have fun, make sure you fix your hair and make yourself look pretty, don't wanna be caught off guard when Klaus the millionaire comes in and…"

Caroline hung up.

She rolled her eyes and laughed as she threw her phone in her bag before heading out, although she did stop and have a glance in the mirror on her way to make sure she looked okay.

Caroline got to work showing Bonnie how to make the different coffees, the cafe stayed pretty quiet so she could continue to do so right into lunch time, klaus didn't make an appearance today and she felt a small tang of disappointment at that fact. Caroline had filled Bonnie in on the situation with him, it was amazing how understanding she was and she felt like she'd known Bonnie for years. The two of them got along so well and spent the day having fun and laughing, and caroline didn't feel like training her was like work because she was picking everything up so quickly, unlike some other new starts Alaric had tried to employ over the past few years, it's only coffee, its not that hard. Bonnie even made a few coffee's for customers by herself with no trouble. It was almost 3 O'clock and caroline found herself looking at the door every time she heard the bell chime, but he never appeared.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

In a small apartment across town, Klaus was trying his best to stay away from the coffee shop, he had nowhere to be today so was spending it painting in his old apartment, the one he lived in before he was making any money. It was small and by no means the ritz, but it was once all he could afford and he came here when he needed to clear his head, if his world was moving too fast and he had to get away. He'd even gone to Starbucks for coffee on his way there to stop him from paying her a visit. He was finding it more and more difficult to stop thinking about her, although he had no idea what it was about her, he felt he should keep his distance, she was spoken for after all…

"yeah by that territorial idiot…" he thought to himself.

He had to take himself away from the situation, no good can come out of pursuing her he thought. If only she wasn't with that jerk, he could spoil her and take her places she'd never seen, show her what life can be like. He tried to distract himself the best he could by working on the piece he was painting, it was an abstract piece with lots of colour, he felt messy things like this helped him vent his frustrations when his head was all full.

"How's it going?" A deep voice echoed through the apartment from the front door.

It was Elijah, Klaus had asked him to make sure he didn't go out and do anything stupid for the day, so they just stayed in his old apartment and kept busy.

"Not well." Klaus said quietly, forcefully swiping his brush across the canvas.

"I brought coffee." Elijah added as he walked towards Nik.

"I don't need coffee…" He replied never taking his eyes from the painting. "What i need is to get this insatiable woman out of my head."Klaus was secretly quite angry at himself for chasing her so much, this never normally happened, he was chased by woman, never the other way round. Elijah was convinced that it's just the latest fling, but he doesn't know the way Klaus act's with her, he was different, nice, genuine, he wasn't his usual sarcastic all be it charming self, it's like she could somehow strip down his walls and he feels like a boy again, nervous and like he had no control, and this is what made him angry.

"She's spoken for, if you were a real gentleman you wouldn't be going after her to begin with." Elijah pulled Klaus from his thoughts.

"We both know I'm no gentleman." klaus smirked. 'Except with her…' his subconscious chimed in.

"Please, this is typical of you Niklaus, you always want what you cannot have. If she were single you'd have dropped this long ago. You just have to stay away from her a while, maybe meet someone else and take your mind off it." He said with a hint of humour.

"…but she came to the gallery." Klaus added in a hopeful tone. "I'm not the only one who is interested and you know it." He pointed his paintbrush at his brother.

"From what you told me of the situation that was set up by her friend who you gave the flyer to, she didn't even know it was your gallery." Elijah added.

"But now she's seen it, the art, the wealth, perhaps she will be more interested now." klaus grinned.

"If this girl is anything like you've described her, she has no interest in your wealth." Elijah added while sitting on the couch.

"You're right." Klaus sighed. "Of course she doesn't." Klaus whispered to himself, he was angry at himself for even thinking she'd be that shallow.

"It seems the only thing in your way is her boyfriend, however theres nothing you can do about that. So keep your distance and let her be with him." Elijah added taking a sip of his latte.

"You're right… but that doesn't mean I cant be her friend. I'd rather know her as a friend that not see her ever again." klaus added quietly.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Niklaus." Elijah warned.

"Just friends. Nothing more." He grinned, raising his hands up in front of his chest.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

A little while later at the coffee shop on the other side of town, it was after 5 O'clock, and Caroline and Bonnie were cleaning up the shop getting ready to leave. Caroline had shown Bonnie how to clean the coffee machine and they were almost done for the day. Alaric emerged from the back with his coat on and his bag over his shoulder. He threw Caroline the keys to the cafe as he walked towards her.

"How's Bonnie been doing?" he said quietly.

"Very well." Caroline said with a smile looking over at Bonnie, loudly so she could hear. Bonnie turned her attention from the coffee machine and smiled back.

"Okay ladies, I'm outa here." He smiled. "Would you lock up when you're done and ill see you guys tomorrow. Great first day Bonnie, think you'll fit in great here." He smiled at her.

"Where are you off to in such a rush anyway?" Caroline called after him as he headed for the door, he turned to look at her.

"Got a hot date." he smiled, and then headed out.

Elena will love this she thought sarcastically, before walking over to Bonnie.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Caroline asked playfully, eager to get Bonnie out to a bar and have some fun.

"Probably nothing, just go home and rest." She smiled.

"Well what would you say to going out for a couple of drinks, nothing crazy I know were both working tomorrow morning, just a little night out." Caroline said hopefully.

"Well okay, nothing crazy though don't wanna show up to work tomorrow hungover. You're a bad influence." Bonnie laughed.

"Me? never!" Caroline replied pretending to be offended.

"I just have to go home and change, i only live a few blocks from here so shouldn't take long." She smiled.

"Okay, then let's get out of here, I've already got a change of clothes in my bag." Caroline raised an eyebrow. Bonnie raised one back. "Hey, it doesn't hurt to be prepared." Caroline giggled.

"Okay, lets get out of here." Bonnie exclaimed, throwing her apron over her shoulder as the two headed to the back to get ready to leave.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The pair had been back to Bonnie's for her to get changed, it was an apartment not much different from her and elena's first one they had when they moved here, nothing special, pretty small, but seemed perfect for Bonnie. They had decided to go to a bar for a few drinks rather than a club, less noise and better for talking away. As they approached the bar they showed their id and went on in, and instantly spotted a little booth and headed over before it was taken.

The bar was a little busy but not so bad that they wouldn't be able to get drinks without waiting an eternity. The pair sat down to claim the seat before caroline headed to the bar for their drinks.

"First one's on me, i'll be back in a minute." She said as she stood to head for the bar.

Caroline decided on some cocktails to start, didn't want to be on the hard stuff and regret it tomorrow. She headed back over to her new friend.

"Welcome to New York!" Caroline exclaimed with a smile as the two had a cheers and sipped on their drinks.

"Thanks, but technically I've been here for weeks." Bonnie laughed.

"Well then, congrats on getting through your first day at the coffee shop!" Caroline laughed.

"Cheers to that!" Bonnie smiled as she took another sip.

Caroline and Bonnie were having a lovely time, sipping their drinks and talking about the city, Caroline told Bonnie about Elena and Damon, also about Tyler and his job, she already knew about Klaus. Was it strange that she told her about Klaus before mentioning tyler she thought.

Just as the two were settling in to their seats and getting to know one another, something caught caroline eye, or ears you could say. She heard a familiar voice from somewhere in the room, she started to look around.

"Huh." She said quietly.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked, trying to meet Caroline's line of sight.

"It's Alaric on his hot date." She said with humour in her voice as she pointed with her eyes. Bonnie looked round and laid eyes on the pair as well.

"They look like they're having fun." She added.

"Yeah, one thing i forgot to mention, the woman he's dating is Elena's aunt, Jenna." Caroline smiled.

"Oh." Bonnie added before laughing. "That's gotta be a little awkward."

"Yeah a little." Caroline smirked.

As she scanned the room, something else caught her eye. Holy crap… it was Tyler and his work colleagues.

"Jees!" Caroline said surprised.

"What now?" Bonnie laughed.

"That's Tyler over there as well." She said puzzled.

"Where?" Bonnie said excitedly whipping her head round to catch a glimpse of Caroline's boyfriend who she had heard so much about today. She noticed he had started talking to a woman by the time she found him in her line of sight.

"Who's that girl?" Bonnie asked quietly.

Caroline was looking at her trying her best to figure out where she knew her from, she looked so familiar, medium length brown hair and stunning. "I don't know but i feel like I've seen her somewhere before." She said, still trying to figure out where it was from.

"Aren't you gonna go and say hello?" Bonnie asked hopefully.

"Nah, think i'll leave him to his work night out." Caroline said distractedly.

"Anyway, where were we, lets talk about something else. How about we try and find a guy for you! Oh i love matchmaking!" She practically bounced in her seat.

"Okay, why the hell not." Bonnie laughed. "But wait we need more drinks, let me get this one." She said as she headed up to the bar. It wasn't long before she was back with two of the same cocktails and she was a little bit tipsy Caroline thought, very giggly and happy. She was beginning to like her very much, but maybe they should slow down, these cocktails were strong.

"Oh, how about those guys that just walked in." Bonnie pointed with her eyes.

"What guys?" Caroline laughed at her new friends giggly state, but she couldn't find the guys through a crown of people.

"Over there, 2 O'clock." Bonnie said.

Caroline turned her attention towards the direction Bonnie was looking and set eyes upon 2 men, one of whom was very familiar to her, it was Klaus. Before she could pull her eyes away and turn out of sight their eyes locked. She quickly swivelled round in her seat before he came over.

"Seriously!?" Caroline almost whispered and looked more confused than ever as she turned to Bonnie.

"What? They're cute." She added with a small shrug while taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah they're very cute, that guy in the black is also Klaus." Caroline almost whispered with the confused still painted all over her face.

Bonnie almost spit out her drink.

"What?" She laughed.

"This isn't funny." Caroline tried her best not to laugh. She looked back over to Alaric and Jenna, then over to Tyler and his work fiends, and then back over to klaus who was now standing at the bar with whoever that guy was, she felt like someone was playing a prank on her or something.

"What the hell is going on? is this the only bar in New York!?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello beautiful people! I must say i have fallen behind on my fanfictions (sorry!) I really apologise if anyones been waiting for an update but I am finally getting back into both of my fics and have pre-written a bunch of chapters for new muse (YAY!) and so will be coming at you with regular updates! i am also working on the next chapter from my other fic Purest Heart amidst the darkness, although I'm not even sure anyone will be interested in that one anymore since I started it when Carenzo was a thing but that ship sailed (and sank) so let me know if you're still interested in seeing that pairing mixed with a little (LOT) klaroline as well ;) Enjoy this chapter, and leave me a wee comment let me know what you think :)**

"Bloody hell…" klaus rolled his eyes as he leaned both elbows on the bar.

Elijah followed suit looking slightly confused. "Whats wrong now?" he exhaled.

"I think we should go somewhere else." He turned his head to his brother.

"What will it be?" The barmaid beamed at them flirtatiously.

"Two whiskeys, please." Elijah looked up to meet her gaze, then back to his brother who was now rolling his eyes again.

"The nearest place thats decent is 20 minutes away. Just have a drink." Elijah said with slight annoyance, his brother did tend to be a bit dramatic sometimes, he no doubt didn't like some trivial thing about the bar he had chosen.

Klaus lifted his eyes up discreetly to where he had met eyes with Caroline, she now had her head turned away from his direction, but he could still see her profile. Damn it why are they drawn together like magnets, it wasn't often Klaus tried to do the morally right thing, and today he did, he really tried, and here she is, looking as stunning as ever.

"Fine. One drink. One thing though." Klaus raised his eyebrows.

"What is it?" Elijah sighed.

"She's here." Klaus stated, pointing with his eyes in her direction.

"Oh." Elijah was rarely short for words, but he was now realising Klaus tried to do the right thing by leaving. "We'll go then after this drink." He said apologetically. "just out of interest, which one is she?" He enquired.

"Over there…" he pointed with his forehead, "The stunningly beautiful blonde." He smiled.

"Hmm… Okay, i see the attraction. She looks far too good for you, anyway." His brother joked.

"Elijah, do you know me at all? I'm begging you to shut up, before I take that as a challenge and prove you wrong, and then the whole day would have been a waste of time."

"Okay, okay." He smiled, "We'll go.".

"Bathroom first, then were outa here." Klaus shot back his whiskey.

"No detours on your way Niklaus." Elijah called after him.

Klaus smiled with his back to his brother but didn't turn round, he scanned the room to find the restrooms and spotted them across the way, he was walking right through the middle of the bar, where he would be in the plain sight of Caroline. He thought about looking round at her table and giving her a smile, but then what would be the point of today, the whole plan was to stay away from her, but that didn't mean they couldn't be friends could it, whats the harm in a friendly hello? he thought. No, don't do it klaus, just keep walking and don't make eye contact, what's that saying, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that? Maybe it'd just be best if he stopped doing all the chasing and let her come to him when she was ready, for friendship or whatever else she may want. Klaus decided not to stop and say hello, but he could feel Caroline's bright eyes burning into him as he walked by, or maybe he was just imagining things. He had almost reached the restroom when he caught sight of someone he knew, Hayley his assistant, talking to some guy. Wait, he knew that guy as well, that was Caroline's guy, why was he talking to her? he was suddenly very pissed off that he was over here instead of talking to his girlfriend, and the thought of firing Hayley, his assistant of 3 years, did cross his mind, all because she was part of this situation which could make Caroline upset, I mean, she could clearly see them talking to each other right, they weren't exactly hiding from her. Klaus decided that he would go say hello, to his assistant, and see what was going on for himself.

"Hayley." Klaus half smiled, but had his serious boss demeanour on.

Slightly startled she looked round at him and took a step back from Tyler. "Niklaus, hello. I'm surprised to see you here, didn't think this was your kind of place." She said nicely, but you could tell she was nervous, she always had been around Klaus, but he was used to it, this is how women normally were around him.

"Well it was actually my brother who dragged me here, just thought i'd say hello. Sorry i don't believe we've met…"He said turning his attention towards Tyler.

"Oh… This is Tyler, he's a friend, I met him at your gallery showing last night actually, and then bumped into him again tonight." She smiled round at him. "…and this is Niklaus Michelson, the artist from last nights gallery, and my boss." She said.

Klaus extended a hand to meet Tyler's and they shook.

"Nice to meet you, gallery was great, great artwork." Tyler said formally, using his work voice.

Klaus could see right through his fake attempt of flattery, he knew that he had left Caroline alone and didn't care about the artwork at all.

"Thank-you very much." Klaus added coldly with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Then it dawned on him that Tyler had no idea who he was, he didn't know that he knew who Caroline was and he didn't know how inappropriate it was for him to be acting absolutely normal about standing here flirting with Hayley, because he didn't know Caroline was here. Klaus smiled inwardly at the power he now held, the information he knew. What he could do with it. He thought about it for a second before realising he didn't want to cause Caroline any sort of embarrassment over this. So he decided to just head to the bathroom like he had planned.

"It was nice to meet you." He half smiled at Tyler and shook his hand again, looking him in the eye while he gripped his hand tightly. "Excuse me." He added as he headed to the restroom, which was down a small hallway.

On the other side of the bar Caroline was on her 3rd cocktail, she had finished her second and stolen Bonnie's because seeing Tyler talking to klaus was just too much.

"What is going on? Why were they talking to each other?" She slurred tipsily at Bonnie.

"Maybe they're friends." A drunk Bonnie responded.

"They are not friends. They don't know each other. The only thing they have in common is me… oh god, do you think they were talking about me?" She said with wide eyes.

"no… I'm sure they weren't talking about you." Bonnie slurred back, with no explanation as to why, she was just sure they weren't.

"I have to find out what klaus said to him. I'm gonna go find him." Caroline slid out of her seat.

"Caroline no! you're drunk, no good can come of this." Bonnie laughed.

"Just wait here." Caroline giggled as she made her way towards the direction klaus disappeared.

All the while Elijah watched the disaster unfold, rolled his eyes and ordered another drink.

Moving carefully not to bump into Tyler, Caroline waited until he was turned the other way before making her way by where he was standing and down the corridor to the restrooms. She thought to herself that this was a bit creepy, following him to the toilet, but before she even had a minute to retreat, she had bumped into someone large, who in the moment of panic, wrapped their arms round her to keep her from falling. You'll never guess who it was.

"You!" Caroline looked up at him.

"Hello to you too, love." He grinned as he let go of her arms.

"What did you say to Tyler?" She quizzed him

"Not much really, he's not much of a conversationalist." Klaus said amused.

"Not funny. Why were you talking to him? He doesn't know who you are." She looked up at him.

"I wasn't talking to him I was talking to my assistant Hayley." He looked back down, amused by how worried she was, although slightly concerned that that was what she was worried about, and not him flirting with Hayley.

"Your assistant…" Caroline said to herself. "Thats where i know her from, she was there last night." Caroline was still talking to herself more than him.

"Yes, my assistant. And apparently you're right, he doesn't have a clue who I am, someone wasn't paying very much attention last night." He smiled.

"Art isn't his thing." She sighed.

"And is it yours?" He questioned.

"Yes. I love it." She smiled.

"Then he should love it." Klaus whispered with a small smile.

Caroline internally agreed with his statement but decided to get the conversation off of Tyler. "I was disappointed to have left so early last night, I really enjoyed your paintings." She decided on a genuine compliment, since the two were friends now after all.

Klaus's mind was working over time trying to figure out what she was feeling, this entire situation was messy and complicated, but when she gave him genuine compliments like that he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for creating something she enjoyed. Words escaped him and before he could conjure up a response she was talking again.

"Whatever happened to that one I liked? Did it sell?" She asked, filling the silence.

"Uh, no, unfortunately it didn't." He answered quietly, looking in her big blue eyes.

"You're kidding? people are crazy." She scoffed.

"I agree, although I must admit I'd have been sad to see it go, its one of my favourites anyway." He smiled down at her.

Caroline felt her heart racing from his stare, she had never realised how much taller he was than her before now. "You didn't come in for your coffee today." Carline changed the subject.

"no I didn't, I've been trying to stay away from caffeine, it's becoming an unhealthy addiction." Klaus smirked.

"So you're drinking instead?" Caroline laughed.

"Well when you say it like that it sounds silly." He tipped his head to one side amused. "My brother dragged me here, his idea not mine i promise." He said amused, lifting his hands infant of his chest in defence.

"My friend will be wondering where I am, and she's kinda tipsy so I should get back. Why don't you and your brother come and join us?" The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she was asking, but it was too late to take it back now.

"I'd love that." he grinned. "Between us he's not the best company." Klaus winked.

Carolines felt a flutter in her stomach at the sight of him winking at her, why is it so hot when guys do that? she thought. She turned on her heel and headed back to the table, Klaus followed her with a small smile to himself. There was no sign of Tyler when the two emerged from the hallway, although that could just be because the bar had gotten busier. The music had gotten quite loud so he leaned in to tell Caroline he'd be over in a minute, absentmindedly placing his hand on her lower back as he did so. This sent chills down Caroline's spine. He glimpsed at the table where she was sitting to see what they were drinking and headed back to the bar to get Elijah and buy a round of drinks.

"What are you doing?" Elijah says dryly.

"What? were friends, just one drink." Klaus smiled, his mood greatly increased since talking to her.

"Whats wrong with your face?" Elijah raised an eyebrow and asked with humour.

Klaus rarely smiled, yet he right now was grinning ear to ear like some giddy teenager.

"What do you mean whats wrong with my face? this is my normal face." He smirked.

"I assure you it's not. One drink." He warned his brother. Although Elijah was eager to see what all the fuss was about with this girl, if she was responsible for his drastic change in mood over the past 10 minutes, maybe she wasn't just the latest fling.

At the other side of the bar Caroline attempted to fill Bonnie in and explain the current goings on

"What is happening?" A drunken bonnie exclaims.

"You said you thought they were cute right? well they're coming over for a drink." Caroline said coolly.

"This isn't going to end well." Bonnie laughed.

"Shut up, its just a drink with a friend." Caroline giggled.

After a few minutes Klaus and his brother arrived with a tray of drinks, she hadn't expected him to buy them drinks which was kind of him, although from the gallery last night she imagined he could afford it. Caroline and Bonnie shuffled round and made room for the two to sit down. Klaus introduced his brother Elijah to the girls.

"Thank-you for the drink." Bonnie smiled at the two of them.

"Yeah you didn't have to do that." Caroline said, quite nervous now.

"It's no trouble, love." Klaus smiled.

Caroline and Bonnie sipped their drinks and as the alcohol consumption flowed so did the conversation, and it wasn't long before all four of them were deep in conversation about a million different things. Caroline was beginning to feel very comfortable around Klaus and as the night went on she got to know him a lot better. She learned from his brother that he was one of five and that he came from some place in England she had never heard of nor could she pronounce it without embarrassing herself. She learned of how klaus managed to make it as a painter and that he started off with not very much at all. She learned of all the places he had lived before New York and told him about how she would love to see New Orleans. Caroline and Bonnie were having an amazing night and got progressively more drunk with each cocktail they had, Caroline even snuck to the bar and bought a round even though Klaus was persistent that she wasn't buying. Caroline was talking to Elijah about their family business when she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of someone approaching the table, it was Tyler. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach, she felt guilty, although she didn't quite know that she'd done anything wrong. The music was loud and so she could barely hear him but he didn't look mad he was smiling in fact. Klaus had averted his eyes from Bonnie and had noticed Tyler approaching, and he too had a sinking feeling, not guilt, dread of him coming to ruin their night.

"Hey Care!" Tyler shouted over the music. "Skooch up." He smiled down at her.

Everyone moved a little and made room for Tyler to sit down next to Caroline.

"Everyone this is Tyler, My boyfriend." Caroline smiled. "Tyler this is Bonnie from work, and this is Klaus the artist from last nights Gallery, and this is his brother Elijah." Caroline introduced them. Tyler greeted them, shaking the hands of Klaus and Elijah, Klaus for the second time that night, but Tyler didn't mention having already met Klaus. He threw his arm over the back of the chair behind Caroline and kissed her on the cheek. Tyler was very territorial that was no secret, the sight of Caroline sitting with two other men had obviously got his caveman instincts in over drive, he was all puffy chested and made sure everyone knew Caroline was on his arm.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked feigning happy surprise.

"You said you wanted to spend more time together." Tyler smiled.

"Yeah I did say that." Caroline gave a small smile.

"So I came to see you." He said, giving her another kiss on the cheek.

He was acting like he had just arrived and had come to see her. Klaus observed and tipped his head to one side slightly, realising what was going on, he doesn't know she'd already seen him, he was really putting his foot in it, everyone at the table knew he was lying. Klaus gave Caroline a subtle look to gauge her reaction, She met his gaze to say that she knew, but not to go there.

And so the night continued, all the while Caroline had a guilty underlying feeling with Tyler and Klaus sitting at the same table, and Klaus had become distinctly less chatty since Tyler Arrived. Bonnie and Tyler got to talking about work at the cafe and work at the law firm and all things him and Caroline. Klaus had considered leaving as soon as Tyler sat down however thought that wouldn't be so subtle, he stayed a respectful half hour making friendly chit chat, however he couldn't get anywhere near Caroline since Tyler had arrived, clearly marking his territory, he was nice enough but Klaus and Caroline both knew he had lied and were both going along with the idle chit chat. Caroline was in shell shock at how attentive and lovely Tyler was being, he was sweet and polite which was great, but she just couldn't relax.

"I'm gonna go and get a round in." Caroline smiled, standing from her chair. Clearly uncomfortable, she needed a little 5 minute break from the table. As she got up klaus's eyes followed her to the bar. Elijah knew klaus was uncomfortable and was itching to leave, it only took one look from Klaus and he knew it was time to go.

"Well everyone I think I'm going to drag my brother away I've got an early morning and he's being a bad influence." Klaus joked with the group. "It was nice to meet you Bonnie." Klaus smiled at her. "Tyler." He held his hand out and they shook, it hadn't been nice to meet this douche.

Elijah headed out the door while Klaus hung back to tell Caroline they were leaving, he approached the bar and she had her back to him.

"Caroline." He said, softly touching her arm to get her attention.

"Oh hey, I told you I'm buying this one." She smiled.

"None for me I'm afraid, I'm going to call it a night." He half smiled apologetically.

"Oh okay… well I had fun tonight, thank you for the drinks." She gave a small genuine smile. She didn't know what else to say, she didn't want to say all the things she was thinking like don't go because my boyfriend is being an overprotective cave man.

"It was my pleasure, sweetheart" He gave a genuine smile right back.

Caroline opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself. The two lingered in the silence for a moment, Caroline knowing she had no right to tell him not to go and him not really wanting to go.

"Goodnight, Caroline." He said is a low whisky voice, then turned on his heel and headed out the door following Elijah.

Caroline stood at the bar waiting for someone to take her order, all the while just wanting to get out of there and go home, this night had been extremely mentally exhausting. After those drinks they decided to leave and the three of them got a cab. Tyler was a little drunk but they all were to be honest. They dropped Bonnie off at her apartment and then headed home, their place was about a 15 minute drive from Bonnies in the New York traffic.

"So how did you end up drinking with the artist from that Gallery?" Tyler quizzed her, his tone wasn't accusatory or angry he seemed genuinely interested, but from his behaviour tonight she knew he had been jealous.

"He drinks in the coffee shop, thats where I got the flyer for the gallery, just bumped into him in that bar out of the blue, small world right?" Caroline replied.

"Yeah totally. Or he's just into you." Tyler scoffed, he obviously found the idea amusing.

"Don't be ridiculous, just a coincidence." Caroline slurred a little bit, just now realising how drunk she really was, the fresh air form the open cab window didn't help at all.

"Yeah maybe." Tyler replied blankly.

"Don't start." Caroline replied without looking at him, she had her head back on the seat with her eyes closed.

"I mean I feel bad for the guy if he is, totally delusional." He replied with another scoff.

Caroline realised she wanted to defend him but that would be weird, but she was rolling her closed eyes at how judgemental Tyler was being, and at his behaviour in general tonight. She didn't have the energy to bring up the fact that she knew he had been there all night, talking to Klaus's assistant all night, then as soon as she was seen speaking to another guy he was all over her. She then realised that was probably the reason Klaus and Elijah decided to leave so suddenly, then that pissed her off even more. Caroline fished in her bag trying to find her phone. She opened her eyes, squinting slightly at the bright light of the screen, went to her contacts and found his name. She sent klaus a message.

"I had a great time tonight. I'm sorry it was cut short. C x"

 **What do you think?! Leave a comment let me know who you want to see more of, should Stefan make his cameo?**


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